In this article: Easy elderberry identification for homemade elderberry syrup or other use of elderberries. Learn how to identify wild elderberry and elderberry look-alikes (pictures included) for a successful and safe elderberry harvest.
While dried elderberries are an option available commercially, there is something about being self-reliant and resourceful and harvesting your own, returning to our roots… am I right? Plus you can save a few bucks while doing so and foraging forces you out in the fresh air, so it’s an all-around win-win. Here are all the necessary tools for elderberry identification including common elderberry look-alikes to avoid. (There is also such a thing as poisonous elderberry look-alikes, so definitely keep an eye out for those!)
Topics covered in this article:
- Elderberry facts
- Elderberry identification
- Harvesting elderberries
- Processing fresh elderberries
- Common elderberry look-alikes
- Final tips for elderberry identification & foraging
Elderberry facts
Elderberries are the fruit of a plant variety known as Sambucus. There are three main types of elderberry plants:
- black elderberry
- blue elderberry
- red elderberry
Most elderberry varieties produce berries that are edible to a degree, but black elderberry is the most versatile of the three, with various parts of the plant used for both medicinal and culinary purposes. This article will give you tools for identifying black elderberry, the elderberry variety used to make elderberry syrup (here is my favorite elderberry syrup recipe if you’re in need of one!).
The two most common types of black elderberry (otherwise simply known as “black elder”) are the European elderberry (Sambucus nigra) and the American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), both of which are cultivated for commercial use. While Sambucus nigra (European elderberry) is native to Europe, Sambucus canadensis (American elderberry) is native across a large area of North America.
The American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis, or simply American elder) can be found in various parts of the United States with the exception of Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington (see a range map here). It’s particularly common in the eastern part of the country and the Midwest.
Black elderberries are associated with several amazing health benefits (they are high in vitamin C and many other compounds beneficial for the immune system), but you’ll need to make sure that what you have found is indeed black elderberry and not one of the elderberry look-alikes!
Elderberry identification
Although tolerant of partial shade, wild black elderberry is typically found in sunny locations in woodlands and city forest preserves, on lake and pond shores, along riverbanks, streams, fields, and roadsides. Depending upon the region, from late spring to early summer the shrub produces creamy-white flowers which turn to small dark-purple berries by mid-summer to early fall.
In order to correctly identify elderberry in the wild, you’ll want to evaluate several parts and features of the plant, such as the plant’s size, whether it’s woody or pliable, taking note of the bark, leaves, flowers, and berry arrangement.
Features to look for:
- Size
The American black elderberry is a large sprawling shrub with an unkempt appearance, typically 5-12 feet tall and 6-10 feet wide at maturity. There is often more than one around, although you can find them growing singly.
Unlike the European elderberry (Sambucus nigra) that can reach the size of a small tree (growing 20-30 feet tall), American elderberry is more compact.
- Flower
You can try locating wild elderberry in your area early in the season when it flowers. Elderberry bushes typically bloom in waves over a period of several weeks from late spring to early summer.
Depending on where you live, from around late May to late June or early July (earlier in warmer climates), keep your eyes peeled for shrubs bearing large clusters (around 3-10 inches across on average) of small fragrant creamy-white flowers that grow upright in flat-topped bunches that arise from a central point.
Each tiny flower has 5 rounded cream-colored petals and yellow anthers (pollen sacs) on white stalks. The elderberry flower is better known as elderflower and has a variety of culinary and medicinal uses of its own.
- Berries
When identifying elderberry in late summer or early fall, look for small round dark-purple (almost black) berries that grow in clusters which droop down from bright reddish-pink stems. The elderberry fruit typically ripens between mid-August and mid-September, depending on the region.
- Leaves
Identifying elderberry leaves wouldn’t be my priority over other features of the plant since many plants can have similar leaf structure, but do make observation of the leaf appearance.
Black elderberry has compound leaves, with 5-11 (usually 5-7) leaflets on each leaf. Elderberry leaflets are oblong with serrated edges and grow in opposite pairs, with a single leaflet at the end of the stem.
- Branches
Last but not least, make sure to observe the plant’s branches when identifying elderberry.
Young twigs of the American elderberry are green and brittle, older stems and larger branches are woody with light grayish-brown bark and raised pores. The trunk may not be easily visible due to the sprawling habit of the plant. There are no thorns or spikes anywhere on the plant whatsoever.
Safe elderberry identification basics
If in doubt, leave it. Never use berries for consumption that you aren’t sure about.
Elderflower (elderberry flowers) can be mistaken much more easily than elderberries because many plants bear white flowers in the spring and summer that can closely resemble elderberry when in bloom, but elderberries (elderberry fruit) are very distinct in their color and berry arrangement and hard to miss even for a foraging novice.
To hone your elderberry identification skills, consider purchasing a field guide specific to your location or region so that you can get familiar with the kinds of plants growing in your area (both poisonous and edible) before you set on your first elderberry hunt.
Harvesting elderberries
Firstly, don’t eat raw elderberries!!! Consuming raw elderberries can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Fresh (& dried) elderberries contain small amounts of cyanogenic glycosides which are naturally-occurring compounds that can release cyanide after being eaten. Cyanide is no joke – it can be lethal if ingested in high-enough amounts. But raw safely processed elderberries aren’t as much of a threat as they’re often made out to be.
All parts of the elderberry plant contain varying levels of cyanogenic glycosides, but ripe elderberries contain the lowest amounts of these potentially toxic compounds as confirmed by many previous studies, including another recent one. The amounts are significantly higher in elderberry leaves, stems, and unripe berries. (So definitely don’t consume any of these parts of the American elderberry!)
Even though the risk of cyanide poisoning from the consumption of raw fully ripe elderberries is already low, cooking elderberries releases the toxic hydrogen cyanide, making cooked elderberries perfectly safe to consume.
When to harvest elderberries?
The elderberry fruit harvest season generally occurs by mid-summer to early fall – between mid-August and mid-September in most locations.
Elderberries go from flower to light green berries, to dark purple berries over a period of several weeks.
If you suspect you have located wild black elderberry, make frequent visits in late July through early August to check on the progress of elderberry development and ripening. Harvest elderberries once they turn dark and soften up.
Just as elderberry flowers bloom in waves, the elderberry fruit ripens equally gradually, so you can see both green (unripe) and dark (ripe) berries on the elderberry bush.
How do you tell when elderberries are ripe?
Elderberries turn deep dark purple when they are fully ripe. Look for clusters of berries that are deep purple to black in color with a plump appearance.
Red and green elderberries aren’t ripe and need more time.
Tips for harvesting elderberries
Bring scissors or garden clippers and clip off the entire berry clusters. Lay them loosely in plastic bags or large baskets or bowls.
Good to know: Fresh elderberries have practically no shelf life. You will have less than a day to process the berries before they begin to ferment, so plan your harvest day accordingly so that you have enough time to process your berries before they go bad.
Related: 8 Powerful Health Benefits of Elderberry Syrup (Backed by Science)
Related: Elderberries: Healthy or Toxic?
Processing fresh elderberries
- Strip elderberries from the clusters. Take caution to remove the stems. (If you have enough space in the freezer, you can freeze whole elderberry clusters in plastic bags and the berries will just pop off easily.)
- Use only the berries. Make sure to remove all elderberry stems, leaves, or twigs before processing as these parts of the elderberry plant contain higher levels of cyanide precursors that can cause cyanide poisoning (see “Harvesting elderberries” above). The tiny stems of the fruit clusters aren’t the easiest to remove but don’t pose the same amount of risk as the woody stems or elderberry leaves.
- Dark berries only! Discard green, reddish, and any lightly colored berries which are all unripe. Yup, those darn cyanide compounds again!
- Wash the berries. Immerse the berries in a large bowl of cold water (alternatively in the sink) to remove any debris or insects, followed by a rinse under running water. While you are checking, remove any mushy or spoiled berries as well.
- Process the berries. Fresh elderberries can be cooked, frozen, or dried. They will keep in the refrigerator for a few hours if you can’t use them right away, but you’ll want to process them ASAP as fresh elderberries are extremely perishable. If you’re freezing elderberries, it helps to pre-measure them by cups.
Elderberry look-alikes
At certain stages of development, a few plants can vaguely resemble the American black elderberry. Some can be deathly poisonous and others toxic when used improperly, so correctly identifying wild elderberry (which has its own share of toxicity risks) is not something to be taken lightly.
But, have no fear, even though mistaking other plants for wild black elderberry is not impossible, it’s actually very easy to tell black elderberry from the elderberry look-alikes if you pay close attention to the plant’s features.
Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)
Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)
Even though both blackthorn and red elderberry are often mistaken for the American black elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), you can see that they actually have very little in common with the black elderberry. One has blue berries and small leaves, the other has clusters of bright red berries instead of dark purple. They are nothing alike.
Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)
Another plant that can be mistaken for wild black elderberry is pokeweed (AKA pokeberry) which happens to be poisonous. Eating only a few berries can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Pokeweed even has the color down and the berries show up at around the same time, so do beware! Luckily there are easy ways to tell the two apart.
While both plants produce richly colored purple-black berries, elderberries grow in loose drooping clusters whereas the pokeberry fruit just kind of grows down the stem one by one and sticks out.
Elderberries are also smaller than pokeberries, and pokeberries have a more pronounced dimple. In addition, the pokeberry stem is a very eye-catching bright pink compared with the reddish elderberry stem.
Even the leaves are different – elderberry leaves have a jagged edge, whereas pokeberry leaves are smooth, often with a prominent pink vein on the underside.
Hercules’ club (Aralia spinosa)
Speaking of elderberry look-alikes, Hercules’ club (AKA Devil’s walking stick) is another plant that may try to fool you. Raw berries of this plant produce a numbing effect when chewed and are considered mildly toxic. But one good look and you will know not to pick the berries.
Hercules’ club berries can resemble the black elderberry fruit from afar but lack the drooping of black elderberries when inspected up close. Instead, the berries sort of stick up and out on the Hercules’ club bush vs. the looseness you’ll see in the black elderberry fruit clusters that hang down under the weight of the ripe berries.
The biggest giveaway in telling the two apart, however, is that the entire Hercules’ club plant is covered in thorns or spikes (depending on the variety) whereas the elderberry plant is completely thorn-less.
Various herbaceous plants
Although many plants having clusters of small white flowers could theoretically be mistaken for elder flowers come springtime or early summer, especially the taller varieties that can reach several feet in height, just remember that elderberry is a woody shrub.
If what you see is an herbaceous plant, meaning the stems of the entire plant look green and pliable, it’s not elderberry. BUT – don’t touch!! – some elderberry look-alikes can be highly toxic even to touch, such as water hemlock (#1 below). Other plants that can resemble a young elderberry bush in the spring include cow parsley, giant hogweed, and many others.
Furthermore, you can’t mistake the herbaceous elderberry look-alikes for the real thing later in the season as these plants simply don’t bear any berries.
Related: 21 Reliable Ways to Save on Groceries (And NOT Eat Junk!)
Final tips for elderberry identification & foraging
If you’re foraging for elderberries on land that you don’t own, check if foraging is allowed and whether there are harvesting limits. Take only what you need and leave enough for the wildlife. Birds love to feast on elderberries!
If you can choose between elderberry shrubs in a more distant off-trail area with minimal human intervention and a convenient nearby spot where the soil could be contaminated with heavy metals, synthetic fertilizers, or various industrial chemicals – such as near golf courses, pristine lawns, industrial areas, or busy roads, the extra effort of traveling to your site will likely rule in your favor.
Identifying elderberry in the wild is very simple when you know what you’re looking for, but the first times can be a little scary. That’s black elderberry! Or is it? Am I going to poison myself and my family? Ideally, when harvesting wild elderberries, have someone vet your berries (or the elder trees) before using them if you’re not *absolutely* sure about what you’ve got. You know… just to be safe!
Last but not least, as already said, be sure to cook elderberries before consuming to avoid the chances of cyanide poisoning.
I hope this article helps you with elderberry identification, providing all the necessary steps to locate and recognize the American black elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) in the wild whether you use the berries for elderberry syrup or something else.
